Adjustment
by fbdarkangel
Summary: Summary: Prequel to Caught!, These are the events leading to that night in Hellion's bedroom. Rated M for later chapters. *Chapter5 is up... Yay!*
1. Little Marionette

Chapter 1: Little Marionette

Author: fbdarkangel

Character/Pairing: Julian/X-23

Summary: Prequel to _Caught!, _These are the events leading to that night in Hellion's bedroom.

Rating: M for later chapters.

A/N: I tried to give Sarah Kinney some depth. This is the first chapter so please tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own X-Men! Now if you'll excuse me, I'll go cry in a corner!

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_X-23 was running through the snow looking for HER. She called her name. She sniffed the air but couldn't smell the snow flakes falling on her nose. X-23 screamed in frustration then she heard CRUNCH. She turned to see Dr. Sarah Kinney, cuts and bruises all over her body. Sarah collapsed on the snowy ground and Laura ran to aid her mother._

_"Doctor Kinney?" she shouted as she tried to bandage the wounds. _

_However with each attempt to stop the bleeding, the loss of blood increased. Sarah coughed out her blood as she opened her mouth to speak._

_"L-Laura," she sputtered._

_"Do not speak," Laura ordered. "You need your strength. You need-"_

_But she was stopped when Sarah placed her hands on her own._

_"My little marionette," she smiled. "It's time to be a real life girl. No matter what happens, I will always love yo-"_

_Sarah gasped for more then her eyes were no longer filled with pain or with any other emotion. She just laid limply in X-23's arms. Laura shook Sarah's body, trying to bring her back to life._

_"Doctor Kinney, please don't do this," she pleaded, feeling the tears crawling down her cheeks. "Doctor?... Mother?... Mommy, please don't leave me."_

_Then her ears perked up as a pair of small feet was coming from behind. She turned, drawing out her adamantium claws from both knuckles, only to see a thirteen year old girl, with the same claws, hair, and eyes. Covered in blood, the little girl smiled._

_"Where's your Blue Fairy, now?" she teased._

"NOOOO!" Laura shrieked as she sat up straight from her bed.

Sooraya jumped out of bed and ran to her roommate.

"What's wrong, Laura?" she asked. "Are you hurt?"

"No," Laura gulped. "It was a hallucination. A dream."

Before Sooraya tried to console Laura, the door bursted open with a loud bang. The girls turned to see Logan marching followed by Cyclops and Emma Frost.

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Logan.

"Laura just had nightmare, Mr. Logan," Sooraya explained.

"And she didn't hurt you any way," Emma inquired, her eyes turning crystal white.

"What?" Sooraya gaped but Emma's crystal gaze was turning towards Laura.

"Get out of her mind, Frost," Logan growled.

"Or what?" Emma challenged.

"Enough!" Scott raised his voice. "Since there is no immediate danger we can now go to bed. Alright?"

The two other instructors remained silent until Emma gave in.

"Fine," she said. She left the room, followed by Cyclops, who gave a smile of encouragement to the two girls and Logan, who remained silent.

After a good long while, Sooraya decided to break the silence.

"Are you sure you are all right?" she asked.

Laura nodded, not looking at her roommate.

"Go back to sleep," she muttered.

Sooraya hesitated but then decided it was best to leave Laura to her thoughts. She said good night then turned the lights out. Once she was sure Dust was truly asleep, Laura tiptoed to her closet and pulled out her green duffle bag. She unzipped it and took out her mother's copy of _Pinocchio_ and the locket her cousin gave her. She opened the locket to see her mother's face looking back at her with the same green eyes and Laura had to control herself from crying again.

_How do I do it, Mother?_ She thought. _How do I become a real life girl?_

Sarah's picture remained silent. Laura took a deep breath before putting her possessions back in the duffel bag and returning it to her closet. She walked to her bathroom, closed the door, and clenched her right fist.

_SNIIKT!_

She closed her eyes and let her claws run deep through her skin, feeling warm blood flowing down her arm.

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(long awkward pause) This is usually the part where people start reviewing! ;P


	2. Fix the String

**Hey everybody! Here's _Chapter 2: Fix the String_! Enjoy!... or don't... do whatever hell you like... just read the chapter!**

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The next day, Laura got up to change, trying to forget last night's "disturbance". She opened the closet and found the duffle bag still lying on the floor. She hesitated then opened it and took out the locket. Soon after, she was in her usual black leather attire and tied the thick black string, carrying the pendant, around her neck. She then grabbed her school bag and headed out of her room and to the mess hall. The moment Laura entered the cafeteria; she felt the urge to run. She then decided to use Logan coming towards her as an excuse to do so. However, as she turned to leave, she ran into Julian, who was already in a bad mood because he had lost some sleep last night. Julian, slipping, grabbed something small and thick to keep balance. After a big crashing and a mysterious ripping sound, both students landed face down on the floor. The entire cafeteria went completely silent as Logan rushed over to help his clone while Beast attempted to aid Julian. Julian, however, stood up still holding onto the small and thick object that did him no help. He glared loathingly at Laura who was being raised up by Logan.

"What the hell is your problem, X?" he demanded. Laura faced him then her eyes widened in shock and fear.

"You seriously need to watch where you're going," Julian continued. "And why the hell are you staring at me like that?"

"Julian, leave her alone," scolded Cessily, walking towards Laura's side. "It was an accident."

However, Julian wasn't listening, because he realized that Laura wasn't staring at him but at the object he was holding. He looked down and saw that it was the weird-looking necklace that he saw X wear occasionally. The gold pendant remained unharmed. The thick black string, however, broke in half when Julian grabbed it. Julian looked back at Laura and, to his utter surprise; he saw tears forming in her eyes. Before anything else could be said or done, Laura tore out of the cafeteria. Logan sighed and gathered up all of Laura's school work and books. Once he placed them in her bag, he made towards the direction where his clone ran, slapping Hellion upside the head on the way.

"Ow! Fuck!"

"Moron," muttered Logan as he exited the cafeteria.

Within seconds, the rest of the school went back to their food and conversations, as if nothing had happened. Rubbing his head in pain, Julian shoved the pendant in his front pocket and he and Cessily walked towards to where the rest of the New X-Men were sitting. Once he sat down, all eyes were on him.

"Smooth entrance, Keller," snorted Elixir, who was unable to hold it any longer.

"Go fuck yourself, Foley," Julian snarled.

"Julian, you are such a prick," Cessily exclaimed.

"Second that," Nori piped up.

"Me too," Pixie agreed.

"Me three," Victor concurred.

Julian stared with pure disbelief.

"_I'm_ the prick?" Julian gaped. "I was the one that got attacked by Smokey and his little shadow over there."

"Come on, Keller," David chided, as if Julian didn't know one plus one equals one. "When has X ever cried?"

"Last night."

Suddenly, all eyes were on Sooraya, and she leaned forward so no one outside the table could hear.

"She was having a bad dream," she explained. "She kept on muttering something about her mother and a blue fairy. The next thing I know, she is screaming and sobbing."

"So it was _her_ that woke me?" Julian roared.

"For the love of god, Julian," Cessily hissed. "Will you keep your voice down?"

But Julian had enough. He grabbed his backpack and stood up.

"Where are you going?" asked Rockslide, who clearly had paid more attention to his breakfast than to what just happened.

"I'm not hungry," Julian muttered. "Psychopathic bitch made me lose my appetite."

And with that, he stormed out of the cafeteria, leaving an awkward silence in the table. Then Rockslide spoke up.

"What psychopathic bitch?" he demanded.

"Just shut up and eat you eggs, Santo," Anole barked.

Julian walked towards the gardens sat himself on a stone bench. He pondered for a moment then pulled out the pendant. He then realized that it was a locket and opened it. On the left side, was a picture of a teenaged girl, with short blonde hair and green eyes that weren't so unfamiliar. Julian shifted his glance towards the picture on the right and did a double take. The woman in the picture looked exactly like Laura; same jet black flowy hair and same sexy and mysterious emerald eyes. _Wait. What?_

Julian shook his head and looked back at the two pictures. Then a voice came from behind.

"That is Megan Kinney."

Julian yelped as Blindfold appeared out of nowhere.

"Jesus Christ, you scared me," he exclaimed before calming down. "Who's what?"

"The girl on the left was most commonly known as Megan Kinney," Blindfold explained as she sat next to him. "She was Talon's cousin. But she is no longer Megan Kinney or Talon's cousin. She is now Dora Sander. Her mother is no longer Debra Kinney or Talon's aunt. She is now Elizabeth Sander. They no longer-"

"Wait a second," Julian interrupted. "X has a cousin?"

"And an aunt," Blindfold answered. "But they are no longer her aunt and cousin."

"And this is her nonexistent aunt?" Julian asked, pointing at the picture on the right.

"No," Blindfold said. "That is Dr. Sarah Kinney. Laura's mother. She is dead. Poor marionette no longer has her blue fairy."

"Huh?"

"You must repair the string, Hellion," Blindfold pleaded with urgency. "You must help the marionette become a real life girl."

"Ok, I'm going to stop right there because I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about. As for this," Julian pulled out the torn string, "I can't fix it because it's ripped."

Suddenly Blindfold pulled out a long silver chain and handed it to Julian.

"Have a good day, Julian Keller."

And with that she left the gardens and a dumfounded Julian.

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**Dear Santa,**

**I want a big fat pony, a million dollars, MJ's keys to Neverland, a red rocket, and a ton of reviews for this chapter!**

**Your biggest fan,  
fbdarkangel **


	3. Blood and Kisses in the Danger Room

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long but here it is!  
Disclaimer: No, I don't X-Men or Sports Illustrated... you'll guys understand that last bit at the end of this chapter! Enjoy! :)**

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It took one sniff for Logan to realize that Laura went straight to the Danger Room. He sighed then walked towards the elevator and went straight down to the lower levels. He finally reached the Danger Room and found it completely dark and his patience waning. He bellowed "Lights!" and the room was immediately filled with light.

On the other side was Laura, crouching down, her knees just below her tear-stained face, and her eyes gazing at the floor. Logan walked over and sat down right next to her.

"You alright, kid?" he asked.

"I am not sure," Laura muttered, her eyes not leaving the metal ground.

"Don't worry about Keller," Logan continued. "He's just-"

"I do not wish to discuss him," Laura said abruptly. Logan paused at this.

"What about last night?" he asked and Laura's eyes flickered to him before going back to the floor. "You wanna talk about _that_?"

"No," Laura said with rising anger. "I must leave or I will be late for class."

Logan knew this was a lie because his clone was in middle of a free period. So he persisted.

"You were dreaming about your mother, weren't you? Well, I doubt she would want her only daughter to be moping-"

"Shut up!"

Laura was on her feet, all six of her claws were exposed, and she was glaring at Logan, who was standing up cautiously. The last time he saw his clone this angry was the first time they met.

"Kid-"

"You never knew her," Laura growled. "You will never know what she wanted. You have never even seen her. You have never heard her voice. You were not there when she…"

She stopped. She couldn't bring herself to say, "die". Logan seemed to have seen the struggle in Laura's eyes.

"Laura, I-"

"Just go," Laura half-whispered, her watery eyes back on the floor. "Please."

Logan hesitated, but left anyways. After a few moments of silence, Laura brought a long blade to her left arm, and began cutting X's through the skin. The smell of her own blood was so intoxicating; Laura didn't notice that someone else had just entered the Danger Room.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?!"

Laura turned around to see Hellion, with neon-green eyes. Before she knew it, her arms were forced at her sides. He had taken control of her body.

"Let me go, Julian," she demanded.

"Not until you promise you won't cut yourself again," Julian said. This confused Laura.

"Why?" she asked.

"Why the hell not?" Julian snapped. "You're going to kill yourself if you keep that up."

"I heal," Laura explained. "I have always healed."

Julian's eyes went back to their normal blue and Laura felt the use of her limbs, once more. Then two hands grabbed her arms and she was face-to-face with Julian, their noses almost touching. For some odd reason, Laura could feel her heart beat ten times faster than usual and her leg going unsteady.

"It doesn't matter whether you can heal physically or not," Julian half-whispered. "In your mind, those wounds will never heal. They'll just be there… bleeding."

Laura stared.

"How do you know this?" she demanded.

"It's a long story," Julian muttered before changing subjects. "Look, about your necklace…"

"What about it?" Laura asked, darkly.

Julian said nothing, but reached into his pocket and pulled out a long silver chain, where Laura's golden locket hanged from. Laura's jaw dropped and Julian smiled. He clicked the chain around Laura's neck so that the pendant could rest just above her breast. He watched as aura's fingers touched the locket. Not knowing what he was doing, Julian's hands moved from Laura's arm and neck, to her waist and pulled her closer. Neither of them realized what was happening until their lips brushed against each other they pulled back and stared at one another. Julian dipped his head but then…

"Yo, Keller! You down here?"

Julian and Laura jumped apart, just in time to see Santo slumping into the Danger Room, reading a copy of _Sports Illustrated_ **(A/N: see?)**. Laura grabbed her bag and ran out of the room. Julian tried to stop her.

"Laura, wait!"

But he was too late. The doors had closed and she had gone. Julian stood there, reliving the last few minutes in his head. Santo closed his magazine and turned to his friend.

"Hey, man, can I borrow your Biology homework?"

Julian's face darkened and Santo was thrown across the Danger Room by a neon-green light.

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**A/N: I WANT REVIEWS NOW!!!... pretty please!**


	4. Family History

_**A/N: Tada! here it is!  
Disclaimer: I don't own X-men but I hear Disney does!**_

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_Half an hour later…_

Julian walked into Biology with a purpose. For the past half hour, he had paced his room, trying to figure out what the hell he had just done and he was going to do about it. Within fifteen minutes, he came to conclusion that he nearly kissed Laura. It took another ten to admit that he had some feelings for her. After five minutes of weighing the pros and cons of the situation, he chose to do nothing about it. What if she didn't feel the same way for him? Could she even have such feelings? Whatever the case was, Julian entered that classroom with the will to ignore the girl as much as possible.

Laura had the same plan towards Julian. She rushed into the class and sat at the table in way back; far away from where Hellion was seating. She pulled out her schoolwork as Cessily took the seat next to her.

"Hi Laura!" she chirped. "Hey, you fixed your necklace!"

It was then did Laura realize that she was still wearing her locket with the silver chain. The silver chain that _he_ gave her. Before Cessily could ask where Laura got it from, Dr. McCoy came to the rescue by calling everyone's attention.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I've got a-" he stopped when he reached the front row. "Mr. Vacarro? Could you please hand over whatever erotic magazine you're hiding behind your textbook?"

"What are you talking about?" Santo exclaimed in a tone that did not hide his guilt. "I'm studying!"

A few students snorted at these words. Beast raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, a 12th grade Biology book usually brings out aroused emotions, especially when it's upside down," he said in sarcasm before holding out holding out his hand. "The magazine now, if you please."

Rockslide hesitated, but surrendered his copy of _Sports Illustrated_. Beast shook his head as he stowed the magazine in a drawer, before facing the class.

"As I was saying," he said, "I'm assigning you project with a partner."

At these words, mostly everyone groaned and moaned.

"For this project," Beast continued, "You and you partner will be interviewing each other about yourselves and your families, in search of genetic traits. Who knows? You might know a little bit more about your partner after this."

Laura glanced at Julian for a split-second before forcing her eyes back to Dr. McCoy, who pulled out a stack of papers and began handing them out.

"Now, I've made a list of who you're going to be paired with. But before that I want you to fill out this questionnaire. You should finish in five minutes."

Julian looked over the piece of paper. It wasn't too hard. Name. Date of birth. Height. Weight. Hair color. Eye color. Julian completed it in a flash. Once everyone was done, Beast handed each student a packet.

"These will be the questions you'll be asking your partner and your partner will ask you," he announced. "You will also give your partner your survey. You'll be writing essay on that compares the packet and the survey. Now, I understand that there are some questions you may not know right away. So I've assigned dates in the lab, where you can have those questions answered. Today, however, you'll be asking questions of family history. And now, to the moment we've all been waiting for…"

Beast pulled out another piece of paper and Julian closed his eyes in prayer.

_Please, God, not X. Anybody but X._

"Mr. Borkowski… you are with Miss Washington. Miss Ashida… please seat next Mr. Abidemi. Mr. Alleyne… with Mr. Vacarro. Mr. Foley… next to Miss Aldine, if you please. Mr. Hammil… with Miss Kincaid. Mr. Keller…"

_Please God!_

"… you're with Miss Kinney. And Mr. Green… you're paired with Miss Qadir. Now, let's get cracking, shall we?"

"Damn, Julian. How'd you get so lucky?" muttered Santo as Julian gathered up his things. "I wish Alleyne was a clone. X only got Wolverine."

But Julian knew that wasn't true. According to Blindfold, Laura had a mother, an aunt, and a cousin. Something told him that Laura wasn't too keen on talking about her family history. This whole project threw his plan on ignoring her, out the window. Julian glared upwards as he dragged his feet to the back of the room.

_You just love screwing with me, don't you?_

He took the vacant seat next to Laura as he handed her his survey. Laura slid hers towards his seat while looking over the packet. She was determined to avoid eye contact as much as possible.

"_Please name any close blood relatives_," she recited.

"Hang on a second, will you?" Julian muttered and Laura went silent.

She watched as Julian studied her survey. His eyes stopped at a question, shot up towards Laura, then back at the question.

"Is something wrong?" Laura asked.

"It says here that your birthday is in three days," Julian replied.

"That is correct." Julian stared.

"And are you going to be doing anything special for your birthday?"

"I do not understand your question," Laura said quickly, "nor do I believe it is relevant to the assignment."

"Right, the assignment," Julian looked at his packet. "So, any close blood relatives?"

"Yes," Laura answered. "Logan is my genetic twin."

"Anyone else?"

Laura pondered at this. Of course, some students would have noticed that she and Logan had some different traits (other than the gender).

"My mother," she finally said in a half-whisper, "Dr. Sarah Kinney."

"Your mother?" Julian repeated and Laura nodded.

Before he could stop himself, Julian asked: "What happened to her?"

Laura glared at him

"I mean," Julian continued, "I highly doubt anyone would send their kid to mutant school with Wolverine as the delivery boy."

"My mother died when I was thirteen," Laura half-snapped.

After that, Julian thought it was best not to discuss Laura's family history any longer. His own family history took up the rest of the period, because his Irish grandparents never knew the word birth control.

Once the bell rang, Laura grabbed her things and bolted through the door. Julian saw that Prodigy was about to follow when an idea hit him.

"Hey, Alleyne, wait up!"

David turned around and Julian rushed towards him.

"What's up, Keller?" Julian looked around for other stray students then lowered his voice.

"You can hack into O*N*E* locator system, right?"

David looked around to make sure no one was listening in.

"So, what if I do?" he demanded.

"So, I need to find some people outside the institute."

_Several hours later…_

Julian was dragging his feet towards his bedroom when a voice came from behind.

"Hey, Keller!"

Julian turned to see Alleyne coming towards him with a manila folder in his hand.

"I found them," David said, handing Julian the folder.

"That was fast," Julian muttered as he read the contents of the portfolio. "They don't live that far from here."

"Their phone number is on the second page," David continued on.

"Thanks, man."

"Keller, Why are you so interested on finding these two?" Julian hesitated.

"It's a little complicated," he said. "Thanks again."

"No problem," David replied before heading to his own bedroom.

Julian waited and then went straight to his dorm room. He took out his cell phone and pulled out the second page from the folder. He took a deep breath and dialed the number and waited while it rang. Then, a woman's voice could be heard from the other end.

"Hello?"

Julian gulped.

"Uh… hello," he stammered. "Is this Debra Kinney?"

He heard the woman gasped.

"Who is this?" the woman hissed.

"My name is Julian Keller," Julian replied, "and I know your niece… Laura."

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**A/N: We interrupt this story for your reviews! ;)**


	5. Meet the Kinneys

**A/N: I'm very sorry that it took me so long to update! It's been really hard with college and all!**

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"My name is Julian Keller," Julian replied, "and I know your niece… Laura."

"Laura?" Debbie gasped and Julian could hear the panic in her voice. "How do you know her? Is she all right? Where is she? Are you from the Facility? I swear to God, if she's hurt-"

"Whoa, hold on a second," said Julian. _I can now see where Laura gets her extreme paranoia._ "M'am, I can assure you that my intentions are good and-"

All of sudden, a second, younger female voice came into the conversation.

"Who the fuck is this and what the fuck did you do to my cousin?" she demanded. Julian was taken aback.

"Uh… hello?"

"Megan," Debbie hissed. "Get off the phone right now and pack your stuff."

"Not until this asshole tells us what happened to Laura," Megan yelled back and Julian had to pull his phone away from his ear. "Anyways, it doesn't matter, if they found us here, they'll find us anywhere."

"Ladies!" Julian shouted and waited for the other end to go quiet. "I call in peace! I go to school with Laura! The reason why I called is because I thought you should know that Laura's birthday is in three days."

_Three days later…_

Daylight seeped through Laura's window as the sun rose to face the mansion. Laura fluttered her eyes and sniffed the morning air. All of sudden, she sat bolt right up on her bed, her eyes wide opened.

_No,_ she thought. _They can't be here._

She sniffed the air once more and her heart pumped with the upmost speed. Megan and Debbie _were_ in the school. The scent was unmistakable. Laura spun around to find that Sooraya was not in the room. Laura sprang out of bed and out of the room. She raced down the stairs and to the front doors.

_SNIFF!_

The scent told Laura that Megan and Debbie were in the mess hall… along with everyone in the school. Was it a trap? Had the Facility taken everyone she cared for hostage? She sniffed the air for Kimura or any advanced weaponry. Her nose found neither Kimura nor weapons of any kind. Nevertheless, her claws slid out of her fist and ran towards the cafeteria. She slowed down, as she got closer, taking every single precaution. Then her hears perked up as a familiar feral voice came from inside.

"_She's here."_

Without hesitating, Laura kicked the doors open.

"SURPRISE!"

Laura froze in pure shock. The entire room was decorated with bright colored papers and confetti and in the middle was a large indigo banner with words "HAPPY 17th, LAURA!" plastered on it in big black letters. Below the banner, were the X-men and the students, all were wearing party hats. Their smiles were wiped at the sight of Laura with her claws exposed. Still dumbfounded, Laura retracted her claws as she waited for an explanation. Then an amused voice came from behind her.

"I told you she was going to take it the wrong way."

Laura spun around and there were Megan, and Debbie, beaming at her. Their hair had grown longer since she saw them last. But their smiles remained as sweet and kind as ever. Before anything else could be said or done, Laura's aunt and cousin pulled her into a tight embrace. Over Debbie's shoulder, Laura saw Logan, who just grinned at his clone, shaking his head, and Julian, who smiled and waved at Laura.

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Please review! :)


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